Accusation of Kremlin-inspired election fraud sparks protests in country of Georgia

3 weeks ago 7

The country of Georgia held parliamentary elections that the opposition are calling fraudulent. Tens of thousands of Georgians have been in the streets to protest the results.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

As voters here in the U.S. reckon with efforts by Russia to influence our election, spare a thought for Georgia - the country, not the state. It held parliamentary elections this past weekend, elections that the opposition is calling fraudulent. Tens of thousands of Georgians were out in the streets earlier this week, protesting the results. And all eyes are on Georgia's powerful neighbor, Russia, which has a robust track record of interfering in - indeed, of invading - Georgia. Well, joining us to talk about it is NPR's Moscow correspondent Charles Maynes, who is in Georgia in the capital, Tbilisi. Hey, Charles.

CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hi there.

KELLY: What are the stakes of the selection in Georgia?

MAYNES: You know, something to keep in mind is that the vast majority of Georgians - some 80% - favor joining the European Union. So all parties competing in these elections were formally for Euro integration. Yet it's the government of the ruling Georgian Dream Party that's implemented a series of seemingly pro-Russian policies, in particular a controversial foreign agents law that undermined that goal. And the policies not only put the country's once-promising EU accession talks on hold. They raise the stakes of the vote, says Kornely Kakachia of the Georgian Institute of Politics.

KORNELY KAKACHIA: Basically, Georgians have to decide where they want to see their country. Do they want to build the European state and to join eventually European Union, or do they want to go back to the post-Soviet swamp, where this country belonged 30 years ago?

KELLY: OK, so in that view, it's either join Europe or join the post-Soviet swamp. Despite all of that, the ruling party, Georgian Dream - they say they came out ahead.

MAYNES: Yeah. Official results show Georgian Dream with 54% of all votes. Four pro-Western opposition blocs got about 38% collectively. And the result allows Georgian Dream to maintain its hold on power and continue pursuing these policies that it argues promote peace. In fact, that was a central part of this election. If the opposition framed this as a choice between Russia and the West, Georgian Dream said it was between war and peace, so much so that election posters featured pictures of decimated Ukrainian cities side by side with prosperous, peaceful Georgian cities. So it's not such a subtle reminder that Georgia, too, was invaded by Russia in 2008. In fact, Russia currently occupies 20% of Georgia's territory.

KELLY: Yeah, still all these years later. OK. Now, the opposition and the country's president, who's not a member of the ruling party - they're denouncing this election, as we said, saying it's fraudulent. What is their evidence?

MAYNES: I put that question to Irma Pavliashvili, who is part of a coalition of Georgian election monitors called My Vote.

IRMA PAVLIASHVILI: (Speaking Georgian).

MAYNES: So she took me through a litany of electoral violations, including vote-buying, ballot-stuffing, multiple voting, in some cases physical intimidation, all of which led her to this conclusion, which we'll hear through an interpreter.

PAVLIASHVILI: (Through interpreter) And when we are looking at the results that were published on the elections, we can say that they do not reflect the will of the Georgian people.

KELLY: Do not reflect the will of the people, a serious charge. OK, so how does the ruling party, which, again, is the official winner, at least according to the Electoral Commission - how do they respond to that, Charles?

MAYNES: You know, Georgian Dream says it won fair and square based on policy and economic successes. They also don't deny some problems with the vote. They just argue it didn't impact the ultimate result.

KELLY: Charles, if I can try to sum up the situation, you're telling me we have a contested election, questions about Russian interference, protesters who've been in the streets. For Americans listening, with our own Election Day now four days away, is it fair to wonder if you and Georgia are living right now through what may be in our near future?

MAYNES: I guess we'll find out. I mean, the key here in Georgia may be the reaction from the West. The U.S. and EU have both called for investigations into voting irregularities, but they stopped short of calling the election illegitimate, at least so far. Meanwhile, opposition parties here have called for another mass rally outside the Parliament Monday.

KELLY: NPR's Charles Maynes in Tbilisi, Georgia, for us tonight. Thank you, Charles.

MAYNES: Good to talk with you.

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